Found Deceased UK - Samantha Eastwood, 28, Stoke-on-Trent, 27 July 2018 *Arrest*

[stokiep]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....fe-murder-body-found-masking-tape-Around/amp/

telegraph states

The court heard that Miss Eastwood had been found in a shallow grave, with masking tape around her face and eyes, and had been wrapped inside a single duvet cover.

shows how one statement can be perceived so differently!

Exactly what i was thinking, everyones perception can vary massively.... for me i cannot make the distinction between the body being placed inside the cover through the opening or being inside the middle of the rolled up cover. To me the description given could equally mean both situations

 

[stokiep]

Why do posters think tape around her face and eyes would not include her mouth, especially considering the possibility she died of suffocation?

I would assume that the statement is factual and the tape was indeed covering the eyes and face but not specifically the nose and mouth. That doesnt mean that the tape had not previously been applied to the nose and mouth , it is quite possible that the tape was previously over the mouth and nose but when discovered it was only covering the face and eyes. Or that the tape was used for another purpose and didnt have anything to do with suffocation

 

[Yozzer]

Why do posters think tape around her face and eyes would not include her mouth, especially considering the possibility she died of suffocation?

I believe we don't know whether the nose and mouth were taped. Covering nose and mouth may have contributed to her death whereas covering eyes would not. Therefore are these details (re face) being kept deliberately vague while they are establishing COD so MS's defence lawyers are kept in the dark about the prosecution's case? Also to stop newspapers from speculating openly and risking claims of an unfair trial perhaps.
Would a pathologist be able to ascertain whether SE was alive if tape was applied to mouth/nose?

 

[Yozzer]

Maybe he deliberately put a dodgy roof on it and left it unfinished ( no apparent windows and door ) just as an excuse to return?

Looks like an act of revenge to me!

 

[Cherwell]

For me it's how the tape around the eyes is specifically mentioned. Would mouth not be mentioned too?! I don't know I've said before it could be possible that suffocation is the cause and the tape was removed from mouth area to check if she was breathing.

And to try and revive her?

 

[Shiressleuth]

I just thought that the face meant chin to forehead otherwise it would be upper half or lower half of the face generally, so even that is not clear either.

 

[Insp.Dots]

And to try and revive her?

Yes, good point. could also be that some of the tape had lifted off her mouth or nose over time as it was only masking tape. Having said all that, if it was over mouth & nose and eyes wouldn't they say tape was over her 'whole face'??

 

[jessie]

Yes, good point. could also be that some of the tape had lifted off her mouth or nose over time as it was only masking tape. Having said all that, if it was over mouth & nose and eyes wouldn't they say tape was over her 'whole face'??

What struck me about the report of the tape 'over eyes and face' was that it sounds like he used strips of tape, tearing them to fit. Gruesome I know, but a very deliberate slow act. If hurried it would have been easier to just keep wrapping the tape round and round her head. Sorry, this is so grim.

 

[cottonweaver]

Maybe he deliberately put a dodgy roof on it and left it unfinished ( no apparent windows and door ) just as an excuse to return?

Funny! Well he certainly seems manipulative but not sure he'd go that far. However you might be onto something ... in that he wanted to drag out the job as long as possible.

Of course we don't know when the job started but last time we had a joiner, I don't think he would have taken months to run up that frame, some tongue in groove & a roof. ( unfortunately I couldn't see from photos where this structure is placed... might already have the concrete in situ as per those right move photos from upthread)

 

[LucyRocket]

Seeing as he came up with the duvet cover, why not just cover her head with a pillow case?

Impossible to know what was going through his head. But perhaps because he would still have that image of knowing what she looked like underneath the pillowcase

 

[LucyRocket]

Oh very good point - I had not picked up that distinction - duvet cover and not an actual duvet.

And using more strips of tape to keep the original tape in place also makes sense, being as it was masking tape.

But - if this was a cover - then I am puzzled about the need for tape over the eyes. If her body was inside a cover, then he would not be able to see her face at all ? ( not questioning you Lucy, just musing to myself here ).

Hi Alyce. The only reasoning I can come up with is even though he might cover her in a duvet cover, he still knows what she looks like underneath. The only way to get away from that image is to stop her looking like that

 

[cottonweaver]

And to try and revive her?

Very good point.

This could still be intent to kidnap but hadn't plan to kill her and the suffocation was unintentional. ( Going to try & give the benefit of the doubt for now, just as you would if you were in a jury situation. Wait & see. Even though the cover-up later on is damning!)

 

[LucyRocket]

I see your point about the tape but all reports state "tape around the eyes and face" if it was put on the cross shape you described, would it not state tape over the eyes and face. it could just be a poor choice of words though.

also reports state " single duvet wrapped around the body " not inside.

Thanks truthfinder. I know the first report I read said 'found her body within a duvet cover', and wrapped was not used, so this is the image stuck with me. I guess wrapped could possibly mean either, but does make it seem more likely to be wrapped around

 

[cottonweaver]

post at the top of this thread

QC says "“Eastwood was found in a shallow grave with masking tape covering her face and eyes and wrapped within a single duvet cover."

He could have said " wrapped up in a duvet cover" but QCs are pretty precise with language so it's very poss she was inside and then the rest was wrapped around her?

 

[cottonweaver]

also surely that means she wasn't just laid in a ditch? he's specified a shallow grave so MS must have dug that.

 

[Logic-lady]

Yes, of course, but that does not mean that she was having a covert affair with her killer. They are mainly, out in the open real relationships that have broken down.

Exact;y my point! Thanks Jennifer

 

[truthfinder34]

Thanks truthfinder. I know the first report I read said 'found her body within a duvet cover', and wrapped was not used, so this is the image stuck with me. I guess wrapped could possibly mean either, but does make it seem more likely to be wrapped around

I'm wrong Lucy, it is wrapped within a duvet. When I think about it too, it would be hard to cover the body entirely with a single cover if it was only wrapped around. I think the duvet was simply used to hide the body to enable MS to remove it and putting it inside a duvet avoids any part being exposed.

 

[Mellowmelly]

Funny! Well he certainly seems manipulative but not sure he'd go that far. However you might be onto something ... in that he wanted to drag out the job as long as possible.

Of course we don't know when the job started but last time we had a joiner, I don't think he would have taken months to run up that frame, some tongue in groove & a roof. ( unfortunately I couldn't see from photos where this structure is placed... might already have the concrete in situ as per those right move photos from upthread)

I put a shed together in one day and I’m a woman , so an experienced fencer I would think could build a sumner house in half the time, that is without putting in a concrete base first though. He could have been prolonging his visits there easily.

 

[Logic-lady]

IDK if u saw that press report ( was it DMail?) it said that the police had spent most of the time inside that summerhouse.

Did the journalist find that relevant to point out or was it just the case that the summerhouse is the only space that a journalist can easily rubber-neck. ( That the cops actually spent just as much time searching inside the house.)
MS would have to be very daft to do anything in that summerhouse - has no windows and doors to contain sound.

It could add another thread to the premeditated theory? (and perhaps why the scream was heard by the neighbour - less building to muffle the noise) SE wakes up around lunch time and looks out to find MS messing with the summerhouse...could he even have started removing parts of it if she was refusing to pay? (hence the dismal appearance!) SE goes out to confront him, they argue and he strangles her. (I'm sure the MSM articles made a point of the fact that the police removed what looked like a phone charging cable from the summer house in an evidence bag)

 

[Logic-lady]

I believe we don't know whether the nose and mouth were taped. Covering nose and mouth may have contributed to her death whereas covering eyes would not. Therefore are these details (re face) being kept deliberately vague while they are establishing COD so MS's defence lawyers are kept in the dark about the prosecution's case? Also to stop newspapers from speculating openly and risking claims of an unfair trial perhaps.
Would a pathologist be able to ascertain whether SE was alive if tape was applied to mouth/nose?

The defense will have access to the prosecutions case pretrial anyway through discovery as far as I'm aware.

Depending on decomposition I think they would be able to tell if she was alive if her mouth and nose were taped as there would be different secretions stuck to the tape.